I had to share this awesomeness by fellow EO member Khalifa Al Misnad.

THIS is Kite surfing; Qatari Style.

No Dr. Sues ryhming action intended! Regardless, who wants to join the forces with me? They’re giving away Porsches

A great video created by Mohd Saad. The Emir decided to remove his ‘bisht’ and greet the crowd spontaneously during National Day 2012. This is why we love him. He is one of the people.

This is a repost from last year’s blog with some updates.

Qatar is building on the number of events to celebrate National Day year on year. There are a number of huge milestones and events that have lead up to this as well. Qatar’s definitely in the spotlight thanks to mega event after event (World Cup, COP18, Arab Spring involvement, Katara expansions, etc… etc…) and Doha will continue to shine bright as long as changes keep happening.

Why are Qataris so proud? Well we haven’t had that much to be proud of for a long time. Our Emir has brought so much change and development to Qatar that it’s something to almost brag about. A typical Qatari will gladly sacrifice a lot for his country. The Emir has done so much to make our lives better, so why don’t we lift the burden off of his shoulders a bit and try to help?

So whether you’re Qatari, American, British, Indian, Philipino, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Pakistani, Chinese or any other nationality (let’s face it, Qatar is a melting pot of diversity), please celebrate National Day with us! Let happiness flow through you like a rush of energy. Think positive and have hope for a fantastic future. Think of each firework that goes off on December 18 as the sound of the country’s heartbeat. WE are Qatar.

One common question I’m asked is how is it that Qatar changed National Day’s date? It never changed. They’re thinking of Independence day, which is on the 3rd of September. Here’s some more info about National Day (from QatarNationalDay.qa):

On 18 December 1878, Sheikh Jassem bin Mohamed bin Thani succeeded his father as the ruler of Qatar. With that, Qatar became a country with a vision… a country that would find unity, grow rapidly, and reach toward ever higher heights.

National Day, also known as Founder’s Day, celebrates the rise of Sheikh Jassem as the father and founder of the State of Qatar. And yet this holiday is a mere two years old: it was founded in 2007 to give people an occasion to honour the history and identity of their country, and to commemorate those who have worked and continue to work to make Qatar a great nation.

The 18th of December is a special day – a day of unity for the people of Qatar. We want you to be a part of it!

Of course don’t forget to check out www.qatarnationalday.qa for all events and great content.

Interested in sponsoring iLoveQatar.net or particular activities? Drop the team an email at contact@iloveqatar.net

There are loads of different online communities on iLoveQatar.net

Why not join one and help it grow?

★ Romanian Community -
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☆ Balkan Community -
http://iloveqatar.net/forum/read.php?8,38288

★ Chinese Group in Qatar -
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★ ILQ Indians Group -
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Catch my monthly column in Qatar Happening magazine  

It’s December and everyone is either gearing up for the National Day festivities, planning for the holiday season, or excited to celebrate the new year. If you’re into fireworks and want to enjoy a time when everyone’s out in the streets with smiles from ear to ear, parades, fireworks, decorated cars (some beautiful and some that make you shudder), and more entertainment than you can handle, make sure to stick around here in Doha.

On 18 December 1878, Sheikh Jassem Bin Mohamed bin Thani succeeded his father as the ruler of Qatar. With that, Qatar became a country with a vision… a country that would find unity, grow rapidly, and reach towards extraordinary heights.  The people of Qatar have always been pushed to make their mark. Education is provided to all Qataris, the 2030 vision gives us a roadmap for our future, and role models like His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani lead by example.

I should really be focusing on the topic of National Day, but I’d like to talk about women. Oh yes. Women. Hard working. Sensitive.  Talented. Perhaps even driven by the fact they want to prove that they’re the future of Qatar.

It’s clear to me that a lot of women paid attention as Qatar grew. Thinking back to my experiences in the work place, I’ve seen women put in double the effort than many men do. They crave responsibilities, study harder, work harder, and take calculated risks. Even the best entrepreneur would envy their work ethic. Of course some would say that I’m generalizing, and I may well be, but remember that I can only talk about my experiences. Need some examples?

Well we’ve got an obvious example like Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Al Missned. An icon. Making a difference in Qatar AND the world when it comes to Education, humanitarian efforts and mixing that up with fashion trends of course. The message I take away from everything that she’s done is: life’s about leaving behind an enviable legacy of positive change.

Then there’s Aysha Al Mudhehki (and her team of course) that have done a fantastic job with Injaz. Did you know that in 5 years, they’ve reached 5,000 students by bringing together businesses, corporate volunteers, and educators to inspire young people to succeed? She then worked with Shareefa Fadhel to launch the Roudha, a women’s cener for entrepreneurship and innovation.

We also have Buthaina Al Ansari who was ranked 19th on the list of 100 most powerful Arab Women for 2012. She made a big impact for Qatarization at Al Rayan Investment AND founded Qatariat, a company that specializes in helping Qatari women advance in the workforce.

I’ve got to also mention, Maha Al Essa, who’s started her own design agency called 974 Design. An agency that, in my opinion, could compete with some of the biggest ones out there. I’d also like to add that she was my first direct report when I was on the online team at Vodafone. She went from someone with no experience, head first, into a new challenge and came out a star. I’m proud of that.

Many also know, Razan Suliman, who created Bylens Photography as a small startup that’s now turned into the biggest local stock photography company in the country.

I should also mention Ashlee Stratt from the Qatar Happening team who really has to be admired for her patience (especially when she’s following up with me on my articles; sorry!) especially since she’s an editor with a million deadlines!

I then see others like Layla Dorani (who has a fantastic start up idea by the way called RAW ME), Shabina Khatri (the female side of the masterminds behind Doha News), Shaikha Al Mudahka and her team (who are putting together the future generation of designers in Qatar with Dress to Impress), and my list goes on.  Yes not all of the people I’ve mentioned are Qataris, but they’re women. Women in Qatar. Women who are making a difference in Qatar.

I wouldn’t be able to list all of the amazing women who are making an impact (and I apologize to anyone who feels left out), but trust me when I say that I admire all your efforts. When I attended and spoke at the Women Leading Change event (organized by Rachel Petero and her team), I was awed. Oh and I promise that when I was speaking on stage, I was shivering because it was cold, not because there were so many strong women staring at me.

Did you know that the majority of top students and graduates are female?

Did you know that they’re better at multi-tasking? I pride myself on being able to focus. You know what’s better than focus? Being able to focus on everything. and STILL getting it all done.

Did you know that there is a steady rise of female managers and executives?

These ladies are stepping it up and I’m worried that many of us guys are going to be left in the dark, especially since they are that figurative light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to Qatar’s future.

Inshallah my daughters, when I have children one day, can be half the women that these amazing people are.

So what do you say ladies? Care to make my prediction come true? We’re still in 2012 and I think I’ve only just seen the beginning. 2013; The year of women in Qatar.

Thoughts?

Screening Date: December 6, 2012
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Venue: HBKU Student Centre, Education City

Red Bull 60 Seconds is coming to Qatar to give all university students the opportunity to show how creative they can be, in 60 seconds, with the “WINGS” concept. Students compete individually or in teams of three and film a 60 seconds clip with any HD camera / smartphone. The competition’s theme is “WINGS” so it is up to the teams to figure out how creative wings can get. All the submitted clips will be screened on December 6, 2012 at HBKU Student Center, Education City – THE CINEMA.

Clips will be judged on:
- Creativity
- Theme relevance
- Music integration

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

- All students must submit their student ID number upon registration
- All teams must ensure that content filmed respects Qatari laws
- Maximum number of team members is 3
- At least one member from the team must attend the screening on December 6, 2012
- Clip may be in any language
- Profane language or content will lead to immediate disqualification

SUBMISSION DATES

November 25, 2012: Entry Opens
December 4, 2012: Entry Closes
December 6, 2012: Clip Screening and Judging

To register: redbull60seconds@qa.redbull.com
Technical queries: +974 66004820

RSVP on Facebook to attend! Click here

That’s nice of Marhaba Magazine, they were very complimentary. If I was a blusher, I would have blushed

You can read it here: The elusive Mr Q from iLoveQatar

Hey everyone! We’ve finally finished the Qatar Choice Awards video thanks to a great ILQ supporter alexklim.com (please show him some support and visit his page).

Please share this video! ^_^

We told you that we’d put together a fabulous event and award ceremony and we hope that you feel that we kept our promise.

The video celebrates the winners and hopefully we’ll see more of you attending next year!

The ILQ – iloveqatar.net, Qatar Happening, and Diyafa Qatar are already planning next year and of course we hope to give you all an even bigger voice

Now head on over to the forums and join the great community! Stop hanging out on facebook all the time. –> ILQ FORUMS

Updated! Have you checked it out yet? No? Then check it out habayeb (that’s multiple of habeebee). http://www.youtube.com/iluvqatar

Since launching it, it’s reached almost 650,000 views, but the really cool thing is that we’re getting some awesome community submissions! I really do want to see more vloggers, animators, comedy, anything really, on YouTube. Here are a few of the latest submissions: